Common Bonds are a Sick Thing
by CharlieMichelle
Summary: In two months he hadn't even bothered to try and talk to her, he hadn't shown up in her bedroom like Cora had, on pack nights he would socialize and talk until she walked in then he would brood in the corner with an occasional glance from someone. It was originally why Stiles had recently taken to avoiding pack night... (Female Stiles Stilinski, sick Stiles, cuddling Derek).


**A/N: Part one of my female Stiles one shot collections. I have about three more I want to write, one of them is complete AU. After those are all finished I can start on my song inspired regular Stiles one shot collection. One of the cool little things about this one I think is my take on the whole 'mate' thing? At least I thought it was interesting. It's not really a huge focus though.**

**Disclaimer: I don't own Teen Wolf or any of it's characters.**

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There few things that Stiles Stilinski actually hated. That list included –raging old men who killed werewolves for enjoyment, raging uncles who used their werewolf powers to destroy the daughter of the old man who enjoyed killing werewolves (and really that was just an entirely different story), and last but most certainly not least was illness. Specifically when she was stuck in bed feeling absolutely useless towards society with a sore throat, runny nose, and wheezing breaths, it was just not enjoyable. Today she found herself dizzy with every movement, hot (yet disturbingly cold at the same time) with her body angled off to cover most of her bed. Meanwhile, on the outskirts of Beacon Hills her friends –and acquaintances, battled that weeks supernatural baddie (as her Nana used to say).

Come to think of it, most of the stakes out had she had partaken in had all been situated in murky, moldy, cold swamp like settings. Of course witches wouldn't find themselves within the woods, no why would they even think to do that? She had spent three out of five nights (at least three hours each night) crouched in the depths of Beacon Hills swamp, which really shouldn't be considered a swamp, because it was simply the cluttered bank of the quarry. Regardless that was more than likely the reason she was left completely defenseless and utterly useless.

Cora Hale was, surprisingly, the first person to point out the scent of illness and murk (Stiles took offense to that). The Hale siblings had been back in Beacon Hills for approximately two months before the next creepy crawly (another Nana reference) came flying in –literally thus putting the pack into action. They were gone for almost four months, _four months_ without the Hale siblings and Stiles was done. She couldn't blame them, not really, because if she was in Derek's shoes with a younger sibling (who was really much older mentally than she should be) she would have done the same exact fucking thing.

That conclusion made her groan out-loud during her AP History lecture. None the less, during those four months the darkness that Deaton had told them (Scott, Allison, and herself) about before they committed to the sacrificial ritual to save their parents –which Stiles would never do again, had practically eaten her alive. She spent days at a time silent, completely and utterly silent, barely eating any meals at all, and only really facing actual people during school. Her father, God bless, had let her be. She explained the ritual (he had cried a little during the tale) and made it known that she wouldn't be 'normal' Stiles anymore. He had accepted this and in return for saving his life he granted her the space she'd need to keep hers. "No funny business." was his threat, the second she caused harm to herself she was to be back to seeing a professional no questions asked.

It wasn't all bad though, she had some good laughs with Scott and Isaac. She had amazing shopping days with Lydia and Allison. She even went on a few dates, although really she could probably safely assume that was because of her wardrobe change. Maybe even her hair change. Definitely in the use of make-up though. However, it was no use, for some reason or other life was not completely enjoyable without Derek fucking Hale. It infuriated her that he would just pick up and _leave _as if he was running away from everything they've done.

Which okay, _they _never did anything –much to the disappointment of herself, but the pack did. She thought pack meant the world to him and he just left! She thought that maybe, just maybe there would have been a sudden realization on him that for once he could rely on others. She thought that he had seen her as a friend, a trust worthy and loyal friend. She was more disappointed that she let herself believe that when clearly there was nothing other than a common cause. She even enjoyed Cora's presence. Sarcastic, witty, undeniably bad ass Cora, yeah, she missed her too! It was heart wrenching to know that Derek and Cora hadn't even bothered to tell anyone; except maybe Scott, but it was more likely than not that they told Deaton.

Stiles had spent two days being legitimately upset over it all, two days of ice cream, stupid movies, and MTV's "Girl Talk". It was when Scott showed up in her window one night to find her crying her very own disgusting silent tears over, and she couldn't believe it either, The Notebook that she had to confront the problem. Scott couldn't understand why she was so distraught about this and Stiles couldn't understand how Scott wasn't. Didn't Scott understand that without Derek he was fucked? He couldn't just go to Peter fucking Hale for advice. Of course Scott argued with, well why not? To which Stiles had retorted; why not? Why not!? Because Peter was not only a creep but he liked to twist his words around to make him innocent, he may have changed for the better (ok, she'd take that back in the weeks to follow) but that didn't make him a good guy.

At some point in the conversation Stiles had admitted that she may have had a tiny little totally pointless crush on Derek. She had Scott completely convinced it was for his looks and his way of always being somewhere when needed, but Scott could somehow –she didn't ask for specifics, tell it was more than that. She remembered him saying something along the lines of similar scents, whatever that meant. Stiles had spent a few hours researching it but nothing completely plausible or true ever came up. Mates didn't exist, she even went to Deaton for that, however common bonds did.

She obsessed for weeks, while at the same time completely losing track of herself; over this concept of common bonds. "It's almost as simple as a dating site. When two people mutually like each-others profiles, the site sets them up in a private chat room." That was how Deaton described it. It made sense, except that Stiles (nor anyone else) had really noticed this common bonds thing between Derek and her. The arguing factor, at least for Allison, Lydia, and Danny, was that Scott _did_ sense it just not while Derek was around. Which, yeah, great, but still didn't explain what it really was. So she sat at her computer and she read article upon article and she still couldn't find anything close to reliable. Then Chris Argent showed up at her front door with an old leather back book with a cheesy horrendous title.

"The Encyclopedia on the Supernatural and their Everything?" Stiles read out to him with a questioned expression.

"Allison mentioned you were doing some research on common bonds, hard to do considering most information found on the internet pertaining to commons bonds is false." Stiles nodded, she politely interrupted and asked if he'd like to come inside, he declined but continued on with what he was saying anyway. "I didn't ask for particulars, but I want you to be careful with this."

"Is it dangerous?"

"Not overly so." Stiles didn't feel the need to ask why, mostly because it was Chris Argent and he'd explain all anyway. "Humans can't have them; we rely completely on mental and physical compatibility and the feelings given off to us through our nervous system and brain waves. If a supposed human has one of these bonds with a supernatural being they can't decipher what's good between bad in the relationship, their feelings are completely dominated by their Spark."

"So, in theory, the human Spark could end up in a relationship that's seemingly perfect, no fights, no nothing, to them but around that said human people could see, let's say… bruises?"

"That and the emotional compromising that comes with it, the Spark loses its cognitive ability to make clear decisions. For example, you, your Spark is what keeps you alive when you're running with werewolves, it's the gut feeling you have that causes you to act a certain way before you can register what's going on. In some cases the ability for that Spark to function would be, blocked almost, by a bond."

Stiles interest doubled after that, she read the book front to back; she even made notes and compiled a rather impressive five page essay on werewolves and their common bonds. She had managed to figure out that Lydia had a bond, demonstrated through Stiles' very own experiments. Stiles had also managed to point out to Lydia her horrible decision making skills when it came to her and her werewolf boyfriend. Stiles had also discovered that Allison and Scott had no bond, while Scott may have a bond with Allison, which explained why he still hadn't moved on from her, Allison was only human. She could break away from Scott and reattach to her heart's content, literally. Just the same with Danny, Danny could walk away from his supernatural relationship and never second guess himself.

Over the course of Stiles' findings, and by findings she really meant it was in the section for werewolves, she discovered that a bond never truly goes away. While Allison and Danny may be able to walk away without so much as a blink, Scott, Isaac, and even Lydia would forever harbor feelings for them. It explained why Lydia would drop everything for a Facebook message from Jackson; it would explain why Jackson still made sure Lydia was safe. Her conclusion was that if there was a bond between her and Derek, it would remain there for practically ever. It sucked when she thought about it, because it would make it ten times harder just to find someone to hold her interest long enough for a bond to form, and if it was with a regular Joe Schmoe it may never be fully returned.

By the time Derek and Cora returned Stiles had put the topic of common bonds away for good. She didn't want to feel hopeless over a little crush. Her hope was short lived when Cora had been the one to find the nicely written essay under her pile of school work when Stiles had come home from school. "What the fuck!?" Stiles screeched as Cora jumped up and waved the paper back and forth.

"I knew it! I knew this was why he insisted we come back to this piece of shit town! That liar!"

Stiles threw her backpack on the ground and huffed as she stood with her hands on her hips. "Could you please enlighten me for one minute? Why are you in my room? Why are you in this town? And just what do you think you're doing routing through my stuff?"

Cora had to open and close her mouth multiple times before she actually had an answer. "I was going through your papers because I wanted to see how you were doing academically, when I found this."

"Not a good enough reason, try again."

"We've been back for almost a week." Stiles clenched her jaw as Cora started talking. "The first person we wanted to see was you, but Deaton told us, well Derek actually, that it wasn't a good idea. We had no idea about what you did for your father, if we had known, Stiles we would have never left."

"That's not really my concern right now."

"Well it should be." Cora bit out as she slammed the paper on to the desk.

"I'm sorry, I fail to see how that was the pressing and deciding matter on whether or not you two stayed. The point of the matter is that you didn't, I had not only just reunited with my father, who was _taken _by this deranged monster of a person but I had also just gotten out of a minor accident, bet you didn't know about that either."

"Stiles…"

Stiles didn't let her continue. "Oh no, I'm not done. You are going to take you stupid Hale superiority and shove it up your ass. I get it though, because if I was in Derek's shoes I would have left too, but I would told my friends, I would have told the people that have kept me alive. Now I'll ask you again, what are you doing here? Why are you going through my stuff?"

Cora had submitted easily to Stiles, though Stiles would accept none of her werewolf shit. She wanted real answers. "I'm here because Derek refuses to see you. He wants to, everyone can see that he wants to, but he's asked everyone to not mention him or me to you. Then Lydia mentioned the common bonds thing and it put him on edge. I figured I had to be the ballsy one and find you and get you and him to at least talk to each other, and then I figured Stiles is smart, she probably researched this, and I was right. For the most part so are you."

"What was I wrong about?" She really didn't feel like hearing that everyone, including Scott, had known that the Hale duo was back.

"The bonds do go away. It's hard to explain in writing, probably why the conclusion you came up with is wrong." Stiles rolled her eyes and snatched the paper; she found a loose pen and started to jot down what Cora was telling her. "If a part of the bond, let's say the Spark says no, and means it, the bond will break and it'll be like it was never there for both parties."

"Alright, thanks for the correction. You can leave now."

Cora huffed and made her way towards the window, seriously what the fuck was up with them? "Just one more thing," Stiles looked up like a business man would at the employee he's just fired. "…he was hoping you'd break the bond."

Well that didn't make Stiles feel any better, in fact it made her feel incredibly worse, and two months later, in her bedroom, where she lie sick in bed with no voice, and a silent house, it made her head spin and her chest ache.

She had been home alone for twenty-four hours, because she was more than capable of handling herself when she was sick according to her dad. He's treated her more like an adult in the last four months than he's ever had in her whole life. Though that didn't stop him from bombarding her phone with text messages asking if she needed anything, that he loved her, blah-blah the whole nine yards. She took in the silence and in her sick state let her mind wander back to the times where it was never silent, her mother always playing piano or singing or cursing as she attempted to bake. Then when her mom got sick the silence started to overcome the house before it completely encapsulated it.

That was when Stiles slowly started to fill the silence with talks, she would talk about anything and everything, and she had a liable reason to do so too! She would find a topic; watch as many programs (until her dad caved and let her get a computer) on it as she could –or hell even walk to the library to read about it. The point was that she would fill the silence with her random knowledge. That was until the supernatural stuff started to kick in, then she would fill the silence with sarcasm and wit. Until eventually, she wasn't around to fill the silence. Once her dad found out about the supernatural world she could fill the silence with that!

The silence though was what made her sad while she was sick. It also completely blocked all of her sense and she didn't hear the door open or close or the slamming foot-steps that raced up the stairs. She did however jump, weakly and pathetically of course, when a dark looming figure burst through the door. She could tell who it was almost instantly, he wasn't wolfing out but he smelled of murk and woods, and probably an assortment of witches brew.

She hadn't used her voice at all, so she wasn't about to do that, and she still felt dizzy so she wasn't about to get up and usher him out. Instead she shrugged and flopped back onto her back and sniffled through her stuffed nose. She had to breathe through her mouth because she couldn't get air into her nasal airway, but she knew she must have sounded like death to him. She didn't care.

In two months he hadn't even bothered to try and talk to her, he hadn't shown up in her bedroom like Cora had, on pack nights he would socialize and talk until she walked in then he would brood in the corner with an occasional glance from someone. It was originally why Stiles had recently taken to avoiding pack night, that and AP work was just always there and needed to be done. She felt a cough rise up in her chest until it escaped her mouth and she found herself curled on her side grumbling as she coughed and sniffled.

He stood and watched, she could feel him doing it too, but he didn't approach her. She heard the ruffle of his jacket coming off and maybe even his shoes but quite frankly she didn't give a shit. "Stiles…"

She groaned a response, she was freezing, but at the same time she was sweating and she was tired and all she wanted to do was sleep and cuddle. She felt a hand against her cheek and forehead, what difference to him would it make? Werewolves ran hotter than humans. She grunted and pushed his hand away weakly. "Leave me to die in peace."

So that's what her voice sounded like, or didn't sound like actually. She had compared herself to a frog, a tuneless frog. She could tell that Derek was just as shocked because his eyes had widened ten-fold when she opened her mouth.

"Did you swallow lake water?"

"I did not." She bit out but grimaced as the crackling that was her voice escaped her throat. "If you must know, I'm a life-long smoker. Where are my menthols?"

Derek didn't look pleased, he looked aggravated, but Stiles could care less. "Is that supposed to be funny?"

"Define funny."

She heard Derek release a prolonged sigh she could only imagine him pinching his nose. "It's not funny. You know what else is not funny? You falling off of the face of the earth and leaving everyone think something happened to you."

"'M sick, not kidnapped. I've literally been here for the last day or so."

Derek grunted before he shoved her legs over and took a seat on the edge of the bed. "Your father told me where everything was, open your mouth."

"Fuck you." She grumbled, but in that time span he had already slid the thermometer into her mouth. She was grateful for his werewolf vision though, it meant that he wouldn't need to turn on her traitorous light. When he pulled the stick out of her mouth she found herself grumbling out; "why exactly are you conversing with my father?"

Derek looked at her like she was an idiot, or at least she assumed he was looking at her like that. "We go three weeks without you at pack meetings, you do three stake outs with us in one week then literally disappear. You didn't answer your phone, you didn't answer any emails, you didn't even respond on Facebook. Then tonight, that creature is taunting us saying that you _left _and you weren't coming back. So yeah, we called your dad."

She rolled onto her back at some point during his tirade and attempted to take a deep enough breath to calm her chest, she ended up coughing instead. "Well that's a little hypocritical."

"What?"

"Isn't that exactly what you did? Didn't you leave? Didn't you disconnect your phone? You didn't have intentions of coming back; I'm willing to bet on it. I think the funniest part in the whole thing is that you didn't even want to _see _me when you came back!"

"You need to calm down." Derek said easily almost flippantly.

"Oh get off your high horse." She pushed herself up so she was sitting, she was on a roll and she wasn't about to let it end. "You're not the Alpha anymore Derek. You can't just make me submit to one of your orders, and you can't deny something that is so plain as day!"

He watched her struggle to catch her breath as she let out some more angry coughs. Couldn't she see she was causing more damage by straining herself? Couldn't she see that it bothered him to see her like this? Didn't she understand? He knew she did all this research on common bonds and werewolf habits, she had in essence become an Emissary herself, though she still had a lot of work to do according to Deaton. So why couldn't she see what he was plainly telling her?

"Will you please calm down? You're hurting yourself."

"Don't tell me to calm down." She coughed into the cuff of her elbow. "I've been hurting sine the day I did that ritual with Scott and Allison. I've been fine throughout all of that. I am sick, I am not mortally wounded and I will be fine in a day or two."

"I understand this, but Stiles, your body needs you to relax so you can heal." He reached out to touch her shoulders. "Please, just lay back down."

"I can't."

He could sense it before she could register her distress, it wasn't panic that was bubbling up inside of her, it was grosser than that. His sense had helped him to find the basin that her father told him about; "It's in the bathroom, under the sink. Everything you'll need should be in there and if Stiles is anything like her mother, she'll need the basin itself. Thank you Derek, for checking in on her."

"No problem sir." He was drawn back to the present by her retching and spitting into the basin. She groaned as more came up and he found himself beside her holding her hair back and encouraging her.

"This is disgusting."

"This is your body getting rid of any toxins that are in your system."

"Shut up." She groaned out again, she was tired, she was sweaty, she could taste the vile in her mouth, she was shivering because she was freezing and her throat ached. She barely registered that Derek had taken the basin from her hands and disappeared from the room, when he returned she was against her headboard whimpering like a baby. "You can leave now."

"I don't think so." He passed her a glass of water, she gulped it down greedily. "We need to talk Stiles."

"So you pick now to do it?" even in a sick bed she can manage her sarcasm. "Can't we do this when I'm not sick?"

"I think now is the perfect time."

She just shrugged and slumped down into her blanket, as soon as her head was on the pillow she felt his hand run through her hair, it was comforting and relaxing. "So talk." She grumbled into the pillow as she sniffled once again.

He sat in silence for a few more minutes, because he wasn't sure how he wanted to word this. It was crucial that he didn't mess it up. "I want to start by saying I'm sorry. I had no right to assume all was ok with the world after Jennifer and the Alphas were dealt with. I just wanted to get Cora out; I wanted her to trust me again, to love me even. I didn't want for rest of the pack to feel responsibility for what I had to do."

"'S stupid thing to apologize for." He stared at her as she snuggled closer, her body angled off to the side. "I would have done the same thing."

"You probably would have done it a little better though. I also wanted to explain some things, things that Cora may have said."

She let him have quiet, mostly because she couldn't quite catch her breath and that would make a witty remark hard to do. "I know how it looked when she started saying things about the bond, that I didn't want it, that I hoped you'd break it, and yes I did hope for that, but… but not for why you think."

"How could you possibly know what I think?" She whispered as she shuddered through a shiver. He readjusted her blanket, leaving one foot out to the air, just the way she liked it.

"I know that you probably assumed I didn't want you, which isn't true, but Stiles you're so… young. You're young and you're fragile and you put your heart and soul into everything no matter what and I'd hate it if I couldn't live up to your expectations, to your ambitions."

She stared at him, her eyes were a little glazed but she was all there. "That's the most bull shit I've ever heard out of your mouth Derek Hale." She inched her way towards him, so her head was on his thigh and she was on her back looking at him. She ignored the idea of him being able to see up her nose, that was a no-no.

"I don't have expectations or ambitions about people. I haven't in years and if I did it would be that they do the right thing." She took a deep breath and played with his hand that was soothing the skin of her arm. "I didn't admit my stupid crush on you until after you'd gone, when it got hard to deal with that dark feeling Deaton warned me about. Then I finally accept that you're gone and that this bond, whatever it is, is just going to be there and to move on then your sister is in my room…" she coughed and he brought his hand up to brush at her forehead, and she could feel the effects of the werewolf magic stuff.

"Relax Stiles…" he murmured out as she tugged his hand away from her forehead. "What are yo—"

"I'm not done." He just smirked and let her continue. "Do you know what I felt when she said that you both had been home for a week and you didn't want to see me? You didn't even want anyone to tell me you were home. Then, I finally see you at a pack meeting and you're smiling and happy and the second you see me you're off in some brooding nature. It sucked to think that I was the reason for that, that my presence alone was enough to make you quiet." She sniffled again and looked up at him.

"I didn't know any of that…"

"Yeah well, now you do. Then you show up to one of the stake outs and you just shoo me away like I'm some little kid. Like what I'm doing doesn't matter, and now here you are and now here I am and I don't know anything anymore Derek."

She blamed the fact that she was sick, that she couldn't get the scratch in her throat to go away, that she couldn't breathe through her nose, that she sounded like a wheezing old lady whenever she took a deep breath, she blamed anything she could as the reason why she started to tear up. She shrugged completely away and curled up with her back towards him.

Derek sat in silence, because how was he supposed to respond to this? How was he supposed to know what happened in her head? He had absolutely no idea what to do or say, not that was a new thing it was actually a very common thing. He tried to think back to when his mother was around, after Paige but before Kate, he tried to channel in on a memory where she told him to just act on what felt right, but hell if he knew what that was. He was almost one-hundred percent positive that kissing Stiles until she was weak in the knees was not the right thing to do, but maybe it was. _No _an inner voice –a human inner voice, growled out at him. She was barely pushing seventeen and she was the sheriffs' only daughter.

He heard her struggle to get air through her nose and could feel her growing frustrated, then again he'd be frustrated too if he was bed ridden with some kind of illness with absolutely no one around except for the person to cause the grief. He sat helplessly, because really what else could he do for her? She was more than capable of taking care of herself; the sheriff obviously didn't feel the extensive need to make sure he was around for her (although that topic was one Derek would not approach ever again). So, he sat there in an awkward silence until she rolled over and he noticed her flushed cheeks were damp.

"Why are you crying?" It's the gentlest tone he's ever taken with her and for a brief moment she's stunned into an apparent silence. "What is wrong Stiles?"

She's pretty positive that he's legitimately concerned in that moment and she lets herself answer; "What isn't wrong?" and yeah, it sounds absolutely pathetic to her but she's hot and cold at the same time, Derek Hale is being an actual human being around her and she doesn't know why, her head is pounding, her throat burns, and most of all she's completely sold on the idea that she is head over heels for Derek and that he does not feel the same way at all.

He's more or less rolling his eyes at her as he reaches for her once again. She's dramatic, she's overkill, she's everything he shouldn't want to be around and annoyed about, yet he's situating them both into a more comfortable position. In the end he's under the big comforter with her curled onto her side and facing him with a confused expression.

"What are you doing?" She's wary but he can smell the scent of exhaustion seeping into her now and it's enough to make him want to cuddle –he'd never admit it out loud.

"I'm doing what I think is right." He's kind of proud of himself, because yeah he's taking his moms advice and he's going to act on instinct and right now his instinct is to protect and heal. He won't worry about the whole bond thing, because really if she wasn't going to disconnect it why should he? There was a reason it formed and it wouldn't go away.

She's blinking up at him and he wonders what she's thinking, what he'd do to just get into her head for a few hours and poke around. Look at her darkest memory (though he's pretty sure he already knows that), see what makes her tick, all these little things that _no one_ knows about Stiles. For now though he settles for how she scoots a little closer to him (he'll eventually pull her to him completely and she'll let out a happy sigh).

When she wakes up it'll be in his arms –because she didn't dream the whole thing up in her fever induced state, and he'll look peaceful and she won't be able to resist the urge of taking a hand and running it lightly over his cheek and into his hair. She'll be shocked though when he pulls her hand back down to his lips and nips at her finger-tips.

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**A/N: Well there it is! I hope everyone enjoyed it! Remember to leave any remarks or suggestions you have. Keep an eye out for part two of the collection!**


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